Troy Marshall
President Troy Marshall was the Preisdent of the Unified Earth Government after the death of John Cleary. He served only in the year 3239 where he was removed from power in June of that year. Marshall was previously the Secretary General of the UN General Assembly. After Cleary's death, and the death of the Vice President Viktor Tarasovich, Cleary was elected through the official channels, though the circumstances for his ascension were considered strange; suspicious even. He was appointed in 3239, and took on Henry Qualms as his Vice President. In addition to this, Marshall surrounded himself with people he could trust, such as the civilian director of the Office of Naval Intelligence, Howard Tudyk. As of 3241, Marshall has been imprisoned on charges of treason and first degree murder, ironically, of Howard Tudyk. Biography It is unknown if Troy Marshall is actually this man's birth name, as all evidence of his past seems to be fabricated to some extent. It was believed that Marshall was born on Talahan V at some time before the end of the 32nd Century, though some conflicting evidence exists as to when precisely. It has been narrowed down to the year 3185, though no evidence of a true month or day has been found. Additionally, information about Marshall's birth parents has been clouded in mystery, possibly because evidence of their existence and background was eliminated perhaps by Marshall himself after his rise as Secretary-General of the General Assembly. Marshall however grew up on Talahan V living possibly as many of the other citizens did, as miners and refinery employees. The Talahan Mining Corporation, owning the entire planet as well as the cities that these individuals lived in, had people more or less born into the company payroll. Marshall was one such individual, becoming an employee as soon as he became of age some time around 3200-3201. The first rebellions against the TMC began around 3219 around the same time as the Maleficent V conflict, though it is unknown if the pair of incidents had any connection. Marshall may have been on of the first wave of malcontents that rose to power alongside Lyle Fukoma, who declared himself a general of the people. His intellect aided him greatly in his rise to power. Marshall was quite smart despite the limited education he received as a child, and quickly took hold of entire groups that organized themselves into the Talahan Workers Resistance Front. The movement would actually receive approval of larger anti-UEG Insurrectionist forces with more than several advisors joining the fighting. Some theories claim that Marshall was in fact an advisor sent from an unknown location, with Talahan V being a cover world for his birth, but no evidence exists to confirm that claim. Marshall likely did much fighting between 3220 and 3234 where active fighting ceased. Only when the UNSC became actively involved in the conflict closer to the end of the war did Marshall start to formulate how to better hurt the UEG. The decision came in the form of becoming part of that which he hated. Marshall fashioned his own military career, presenting himself with the name Troy Marshall along with backstopped information from several colony worlds, though now it is believed that Insurrectionists supported his plan to infiltrate the UEG. His rise was slow, starting with lowly clerical positions within the government on Earth. To his colleagues, Marshall was a fiercely patriotic UEG statesman that would stand up for an idea of a strong Earth and a strong interstellar alliance with a Terran-centric government at its helm, and to observers this was who he was in his private and public life. There was no way to tell that Marshall was playing the long game right from the very beginning. He would start small, but would take advantage of any opportunity to rise in rank using precisely placed connections, manufactured incidents, even coordinated attempts to liquidate a higher office perhaps once every few years to avoid suspicion, though never actually taking a role directly above him. Promotion-based assassinations were actually not uncommon in the UEG, but getting away with it would play to Marshall's strengths. A guerrilla like him could operate just as well in a bureaucratic jungle as well as a literal one. Behind the Scenes When coming up for the idea of Marshall's character, I looked into multiple sources. I wasn't quite sure what kind of a villain I wanted. I based some of Marshall's physical characteristics on the character of Tom Reed from Splinter Cell: Conviction, in which the character of Sam Fisher is also on the run for something he didn't do. The similarity of the plot was something I based Deception around, but with altered plot points and a differing conclusion. In the end of Conviction, Tom Reed has a possibility of being killed. At the ending of Deception, Marshall is sent to life imprisonment on a far distant colony with no hope of release. Marshall also differs from his source material because he is egotistical and will flaunt his success, and this clouded judgement led to his downfall when he falls into a trap when otherwise he would have seen it coming. Were it not for his gloating personality, Marshall had all the bases covered. His intentions were good, but the means through which he wanted to reach his end were questionable, but some people may ask as the final leg of the story beings if it was necessary to do. List of Appearances * Journal of Sally Acorn * Deception (First Appearance) * Heart of Chaos (Mentioned Only) Category:Character Category:Politician Category:Human